The Imposter
by K.Mayday
Summary: Society events have become too much of a mating ritual for the children of privilege and they need all the help they can get from each other. PDLD
1. Chapter 1

**A PDLD, because there aren't enough of these any more.**

**Chapter The First**

She went to these parties as a favour to her grandparents, but that didn't stop them making the parties as uncomfortable as possible for Rory. They knew as well as anyone that she had a boyfriend. Dean, the man she had been with since she was 16, but they refused to accept that he was good enough for a woman like her, a woman of society. They pushed men toward her at every opportunity available to them. She would say that they meant well, but she had become uncertain that they even did mean well anymore.

Flipping open her cell phone she hit the speed dial and the cheery sound of her mother's voice reached her ears.

"Hello precious daughter. What fresh hell have they concocted for you tonight?"

"Think forties, balding, musty suit with elbow patches …"

"And let me guess … a tonne of money that your grandparents think make up for a distinct lack of personality?" Lorelai cut her off.

"Bingo. Please tell me you're coming to save me this time."

"Not a chance kiddo. This was your deal with them, not mine."

"Not even for your one and only daughter?"

"Hasn't mummy told you? This is what happens when you make a deal with the devil." Lorelai said seriously, "Sorry kid, you're going to have to deal with this on your own."

Rory hung up the phone with a sigh. She was right it was Rory's cross to bear; she had desperately needed help to pay for housing at Yale when Paris had kicked her out of their apartment. She had no one else to go to, and sadly that meant attending usual Friday night dinners in addition to these parties that she was expected to attend at least once a fortnight, usually weekly.

Looking around the party she rolled her eyes, there were at least a dozen men scattered around the room that had been introduced to her as potential suitors. All rich, all boring as hell, not to mention the fact that she had Dean back in Stars Hollow, waiting patiently for her busy life to have more time for him. Some of the men intermittently turned to look at her as she struggled to not make eye contact. She headed toward the bar, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the bench.

"Thanks Marty." She called over the bar. Her mother had taught her one thing about society parties: make friends with the bartenders, they always use the same ones and they make the party bearable.

"Any time Rory," he called back watching her retreat toward the balconies.

She hung the champagne bottle behind her as she walked hoping that it would become hidden in the fullness of her navy blue skirt and that no one would stop her to chat on the way. She was lucky this time, making it out into the crisp air of the balcony and looking out onto the garden while she uncorked the champagne with a loud pop.

"Geez love, warn a man when you're going to do that." Rory jumped as she heard the irritated Australian behind her on the balcony. She had thought she was alone.

"Finn?" She asked turning around.

"Sorry have we met?" Finn asked straight faced in his thick Australian accent.

Rory rolled her eyes "I have no time for your games today Finn, I'm hiding out."

Finn had met Rory a month ago at the first regular society party she was forced to attend. He was always there entertaining, pretending he didn't know her, getting drunk. The usual.

"Sorry doll, billionaire oil tycoon?"

"Partner in a law firm." She replied, unimpressed.

"Ah. Well if it helps I'm hiding out too … daughter of a billionaire oil tycoon. Gorgeous girl … nothing between the ears," he tensed "She's behind me … she is, isn't she?"

Rory looked past Finn and into the party that was continuing inside. She saw Finn's parents – who she recognised from the usual crowds she had seen at the parties in the past month – and a ridiculously made up blonde standing with them looking around intently.

"Barbie? Yeah she's there. Stand a little to your right" Finn side stepped so that he was more hidden by the potted fig tree, "And … you're good."

He grimaced. Rory was unaware when she agreed to these parties that they were just some type of high society disguise for a mating ritual. Finn started to look at her strangely, his grimace turning thoughtful instead. He turned his head, examining her from head to toe.

"Gilmore?" He asked slowly.

"Yes Finn …?" Rory was a little afraid to reply; the way he was looking at her … she knew he was up to something.

"You're … a Gilmore!"

"I'm aware of that Finn, not quite sure why you're just noticing this now."

He suddenly closed the gap between them and grabbed her by the waist, champagne went flying. He kissed her on the cheek in a display so theatrical, no one but this gorgeous Australian could get away with it.

"All our troubles are over!" He was overjoyed, hugging and twirling a very confused Rory, spinning her around the balcony.

He stopped, suddenly becoming very serious. He placed Rory in front of him, looked her in the eye, held her hand softly and asked in a very serious tone "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore … will you be my pretend girlfriend?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: My plan was to upload weekly, but I had this ready to go and since I got such lovely responses from you all here it is … **

**Chapter The Second**

"Will I be your what?" Rory laughed.

"My pretend girlfriend," Finn deadpanned and her laugh trailed off as she realised it wasn't a joke.

"What does that even mean?"

There was silence, and Finn looked at Rory as if _she_ was the one with a screw loose.

"It means that you would be my _pretend_," he paused for effect, "girlfriend."

He spoke slowly and carefully then patted her on the head.

"Finnegan Morgan," A stern male voice came from the doorway and Finn in a panic spun around obscuring the view of Rory behind him, "You have left a very lovely young lady alone all evening. I know you said that you were looking for your girlfriend, but honestly we all know that she doesn't exist, son. Come now and be polite to Emma, she's quite a catch you know. Funny too."

Finn looked past his lecturing father and saw his mother and Emma chatting as they walked toward them from inside the party.

"Probably discussing wedding plans," he said under his breath for Rory to hear, she stifled a giggle.

"I'm sorry, what was that son?" his father asked.

"I said meet my girlfriend, Lorelai Gilmore." He thrust Rory forward and held her by her shoulders in front of his father, she felt as if she was being offered up.

"Yes, we've met on several occasions, never as your girlfriend though Finnegan." He looked suspiciously at Rory who was having an internal crisis at being put on the spot.

"Yes sir," she held her hand out which he shook politely, "We've just been trying to keep it low key. You know my grandparents, didn't want to spoil their fun of throwing these wonderful parties for my benefit."

Rory stood next to Finn and laced their hands together for effect, smiling sweetly.

"Now Lorelai, you know to call me Edward, none of this 'sir' business." Finn's father smiled at her, apparently convinced. He turned to divert the attention of his wife and Emma who were still approaching.

"My God," said Finn as his father left the audible vicinity, "You have a gift. People will believe anything you say. I would take note, but I suspect that years of truthfulness and sobriety are a huge factor in this."

Rory's only response was to punch him hard in the arm as she disentangled herself from his side.

"Okay," Finn started, "I panicked, I mean look at the girl ..."

He stared pointedly inside and Rory followed his gaze. They watched on in a trance as she giggled and flirted with the balding, elbow patched, middle aged man, who would otherwise had been destined for Rory that night. The man turned to request something from a waiter and Emma rolled her eyes at the back of his head and making a disgusted face at her hand that had been stroking his arm. As he turned back they watched her fake smile return to her face. Their faces mirrored her earlier disgust the more they watched the scene unfold.

"Point taken." Rory decided, pulling herself from her trance.

"This is an amazing idea," Finn began pacing, almost talking to himself, "Genius, don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"I haven't exactly agreed to this Finn, I just panicked and went along with it. I do have a boyfriend you know, I don't think he would like this very much."

"Come on love, it's only for society parties, no one has to know. We just see each other here, make up some bull shit about how wonderful our relationship is going, hold hands, maybe make out a little, and then leave."

"We're not making out Finn."

"Okay, scratch the making out, but the rest is gold and you know it. I mean, look around this room, you've only been introduced to some of these people. Clearly your grandparents don't care about your boyfriend so really … look!"

Finn pointed out a young man; he looked about their age, with greasy hair and a bowtie, who looked like he was boring to sleep the party he was talking entertaining.

"Do you know how much money that guy has? I bet your grandparents would love you guys together. Just imagine the wedding Emily would plan for you, imagine the children you'd have, the holiday house in the Cape." Finn trailed off.

He turned Rory back toward him.

"You know who else has money? This guy," He pointed at himself, "My family has enough money and societal stature that your grandparents would leave you in peace. Just think about that one."

Rory considered it for a moment.

"Okay Finn," a smile crept onto his face so she stopped him before he celebrated, "I'll think about it, I really will. But that's all I'll give you for now."

He grabbed her and kissed her firmly on the cheek, took a swig from her champagne and then ran back into the party, she assumed to meet up with Logan and Colin, his two best friends who also went to Yale with him and Rory.

She watched the garden and drank heavily from her bottle, constantly looking at her watch and counting down the time until Dean came to pick her up.

"Are you coming Ace?" A call from the door, as she turned around to see Logan beckoning her with Finn, Colin and Stephanie waiting and keeping watch as they all held full bottles of alcohol at angles away from the other guests.

Rory followed them into the pool house, they all knew the way since they had attended many Gilmore events and always needed an alternative to hanging around their parents and talking to people they pretended to remember.

Rory and Finn sat on the couch entertaining each other as she tried to keep up with him in his shots tirade.

"I warned you Ace," Logan reminded her after she and Finn loudly (and incorrectly on Rory's part) sang the Australian national anthem and Logan noticed that it had been recorded on multiple cell phones.

Finn was enjoying himself, she wasn't keeping up at all, but she was giving it a damn good go. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was when she was uninhibited like this, when she just let go. He had known her for the past month since she had started attending the events and she had never let herself go like this. He was just about to tell her something to that effect when a loud buzzing noise filled the pool house.

BZZZZ. BZZZZZZZZZ.

"Sorry guys!" Rory giggled and ran over to the intercom, composing herself before hitting the button.

"Hello?" She asked sounding way less drunk than she felt.

Her grandmother's shrill voice filled the room "Rory, you tell that boy to get his horrible car off the driveway. People will see!"

Rory went to reply but was cut off as her grandmother left the line.

"I guess Dean's here."

Finn frowned slightly, "Well love, we must meet this man who has stolen your heart and is stealing you away from us tonight."

He drawled his words out drunkenly and grabbed her arm escorting her to the main house and into the foyer, entire sub-party in tow.

Dean waited outside the passenger door of his truck, he looked down at his watch, frustrated as the front door to the house was opened releasing the sound of raucous laughter into the silent night outside. He scowled, he hated them; the over privileged sons and daughters who couldn't even leave him in peace as he waited outside. He raised his head from his watch and saw that Rory led the group, being pulled along by a handsome brown haired man. They were holding each other up, a point that didn't go unnoticed by Dean as he watched the drunken man let go of his equally drunken girlfriend and she stumbled toward him smiling and looking back at the group as they stood and watched, snickering amongst themselves on the doorstep.

"Hi," she said brightly as she approached, "Sorry to keep you waiting here, I was out in the pool house showing the guys around and ..."

Dean's nostrils flared and he glanced over her shoulder at the group of people who were still watching them while also loudly continuing their party at the door.

"I've got to go Rory, I forgot that I had to …" he trailed off, turning his back on her he got into his car and drove away without saying another word.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So I've got some questions in relation to the timing of this story as compared to the TV show. The scenes that you read that are in the TV show do not necessarily happen at the same time in this story. At the moment we are at the point in the TV show where Paris has kicked her out, the whole editorship thing being the same, but other than that Dean and Rory have been dating for years, Jess was just a friend, and she only knows Logan as well as she knows Finn. **

**As a professional proofreader I'm pretty aware of the value of a second pair of eyes looking over your work. Perhaps I need a beta reader … thoughts?**

**Chapter the Third**

Rory stood dumbfounded as she watched Dean's car drive away, of course, she was still a little drunk so her facial expression was that of an extremely confused child. She knew that he hated these parties but she thought that she understood that they were unavoidable for her.

Finn approached her and pulled her back through the doorway, she wasn't sure where the rest of the party had disappeared to but she suspected her grandmother must have ushered her inside when Rory noticed her waiting in the foyer.

"What a nightmare, people could have seen that wretched car out there Rory! Well … I'm glad that's over, now Pippy and Michael just introduced me to their son Liam, charming young boy. Let me introduce you to him …"

***

Rory and Dean had rarely even argued, the only tense part of their relationship was Dean's misplaced jealousy about her friendship with her step father's nephew, Jess. Luke had taken his nephew in around the time that Lorelai and he had gotten married; he let Jess stay in the apartment above the diner as he had moved into Rory and Lorelai's house. Rory made quick friends with Jess because of their mutual love of literature but Dean had become so uncomfortable with his girlfriend's new friendship that he asked Rory to stop seeing him.

Rory felt so awkward about the whole situation considering that she never saw Jess as anything more than a friend, and more as another part of her family. Ever since that she had avoided seeing Jess, which wasn't so difficult considering how busy she was with Yale.

It had been almost a week since the party and Rory hadn't heard anything from Dean. She had been so busy that it was almost impossible for her to find a free moment to call him either, but she was surprised with how okay she was not speaking with him. She felt strangely apathetic about the whole situation and didn't want to think about or know what the outcome would be. Luckily, her editorship of the Daily News was keeping her busy; she had only been in this position for a month so she was still acclimatising.

The newsroom was quiet as she worked at seven on the Thursday following the party. It was the first time that she had gotten a free moment where she didn't need to study, work on anything specific for the paper or been with friends. She wasn't sure what to do, this was the type of time that she might organise to meet up with Dean, or at least call him.

"Ace? Hey … Ace?" Rory looked up from her daze.

"Logan? What are you doing in the newsroom? Did you get lost again?"

"I just left something in my desk, I may not be a fancy editor but I do work for the paper too, remember Ace?"

"I really don't think I've seen any evidence of that yet. I mean, I only found out because you told me at the McCrae's party and in the whole month that I've been editor you haven't written anything or stepped foot in here once."

"Okay so I'm on hiatus, but really … who do you think sits at that desk?" Logan gestured to a very tidy desk that Rory had never noticed until now, was always unoccupied. Now that it had been pointed out it did look rather conspicuous as the desks either side were stacked with paperwork, inboxes overflowing, while not a scrap of paper was on the surface of this desk.

"That doesn't prove anything."

Logan strolled over, opened the bottom drawer and pulled something out. As he straightened up he placed a 20's style hat on his head and smiled. Taking on the persona that matched his new head attire Logan rifled through the top drawer and pulled out some random paraphernalia in a handful which he placed in front of Rory. Pens, nametags, address labels; all bearing the name Logan Huntzberger.

"Okay so you work here, but what are you doing here now? It's seven o'clock."

"I've come to take you to Rich Man's Shoe."

"How did you know I'd be here."

"I didn't but I saw you through the window and decided you could take a break ..."

"I thought you came here to get something out of your desk?" Rory interjected quickly trying to catch him out.

"Okay so I lied," Logan appeared unfazed, "Come on though, this is just sad. You're not even doing anything except drawing an exceptionally bad picture of … a cat maybe?"

Rory pulled the papers that she had in front of her into her drawer and stood up grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair.

"It was a deer," she replied as she followed Logan out of the room, glad to have something better to do with her night.

***

Rich Man's Shoe was always full of Yale students, Logan, Finn and Colin were frequent attendees.

Almost as soon as they entered Finn spotted them for their seats at the bar. He made a beeline for Rory and put his arm around her pulling her back towards the bar leaving Logan behind. As they walked he began to whisper hurriedly in her ear, so fast that it was difficult to process what she was

"Now love, I know you got angry at me last time for doing this without telling you first. So okay … I need you to be my fake girlfriend again and go." They reached the bar as Rory was still processing, "Rosemary, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Rory, Rory this is Rosemary."

"This is your girlfriend Finn? Really?" Rosemary looked at Rory skeptically. Finn had been chasing the voluptuous redhead for months until she finally gave in, and now he had spent months trying to get rid of her.

Finn panicked as he watched Rory still trying to process what had happened in the 30 seconds since she had walked in.

"She's a little shy," He explained to Rosemary, "Come on love, let's get you a drink –"

"So Rory, how long have you and Finn been dating?" Rosemary quizzed.

Worried that Rory wouldn't go along with it again, Finn tried to quickly diffuse the situation by answering for her "It's been –"

"Come on Finny," Rory cut him off in a sarcastic tone that apparently escaped Rosemary's notice, "I can answer for myself. It's only been about a month, a great month though right?"

"Of course doll, the best month of my life," Finn answered in a sickeningly romantic tone.

Rosemary made a face at her friend as she watched the exchange and they left Rory and Finn at the bar.

"You, my dear, are a lifesaver. How can't you see it? You and I are pretend meant to be," Finn was elated, Rory was not.

"What the hell was that?"

"Well that's rude Rory, Rosemary is a 'she' not a 'what' and I'll have you know that she was a very nice girl … before I got to know her."

Rory laughed despite herself. She still wasn't sure what was happening with Dean and now that it was up in the air she felt awkward pretending to be with Finn.

"I thought you wanted me to be your pretend society girlfriend? Rich Man's Shoe isn't _that_ fancy Finn."

"Okay I'll admit I was stretching it a bit there but I was being cornered and I saw you walk in. Don't pretend you didn't love it." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Have you given any more thought to my offer? Look how well it's already working out!"

"For you." Rory pointed out.

"Well yeah for me, but now that you are a single lady I suppose you need some protection from Richard and Emily Gilmore as well."

"Well I'm not exactly –"

Rory's phone began to ring as she was about to explain the situation to Finn. She checked the caller ID.

"I've got to take this Finn, let's raincheck this conversation okay?"

She fumbled to answer the phone as she walked to a more quiet area of the bar and heard Dean's voice on the other end.

"Hello? Rory?"

"Dean? Hi, how are you doing?"

"Um" Dean was never a man of many words. "Maybe we should meet up … on the weekend, are you coming to Stars Hollow?"

"Well I have to go to some events with my Grandparents so I don't think I can make it."

"More events, come on Rory, we've been together for years can't you take a little bit of time out to see me?"

Rory was not the type to enter into arguments but after almost a week of silence from Dean she expected him to be a lot more apologetic if he called.

"Maybe if you had called earlier I could have arranged something. One of the parties is at my Grandparent's house again, you can come if you want?"

"I can't." He answered abruptly.

Silence as neither of them spoke.

Rory started "You can't or …?"

"I just can't Rory, you know how they are with me. I love you though, let's make this work okay? I was just upset the other night, seeing all those guys following you around, it just irks me how your Grandparents seem to be trying to set you up with all these guys all the time."

For Dean to even say so much over the phone was enough for Rory, she looked around the room and saw Finn still standing by the bar. "I'll work it out; don't even worry about that anymore they'll stop okay?"

Finn noticed her staring and winked making her blush and turn away.

She ended her call with Dean and sighed. Although she was feeling apathetic about their lack of conversation throughout the week, she thought that if he called she would feel happier. Brushing off the feeling she made her way back over to Finn.

"All good love?"

"I'll be your pretend girlfriend."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Chapter The Fourth**

Lorelai's concern during Rory and Dean's week long stand-off did not go unnoticed by Stars Hollow's town gossips Patty and Babette. They had gotten the town into a frenzy waiting to see what would happen. Rory was their town's sweetheart and her relationship with Dean had been going for so long it wouldn't seem right in Stars Hollow without it. Luckily for the town, the couple had settled into a comfortable rhythm in the weeks that had passed since their fight and once again, to the town of Stars Hollows, they were a poster couple for young love.

Ever since the fight when Rory and Dean were spotted eating together in Luke's Babette would squeeze Miss Patty's hand and they would smile at each other. However, it wasn't going unnoticed by anyone though how little time Rory did spend in Stars Hollow with Dean these days.

She sat at Luke's Diner with Lorelai, drinking copious amounts of coffee and deciding how best to get out of Friday night dinner that night.

"They have stolen my only daughter away from me," Lorelai complained, "Between all these parties, Yale and Dean there is no time left for me, the woman who birthed you."

"Ew, and also I know, but I've got to live somewhere Mum. It's not that bad, we'll come back afterwards and watch movies, whatever you want to do, I'm yours for the weekend."

Lorelai thought things over and came up with her idea of a compromise.

"Okay, so here's the plan. We go, we endure drinks but schedule an alarm on your phone. You pretend it's a phone call. 'Oh no grandma, it's the paper, you know … at Yale, you love Yale … I told them to only call me in an emergency' you take the phone call, but there is a big disaster in the news room and we have to leave – both of us – because we only brought one car. Then we watch movies, eat junk food and regale each other with tales of our successful escape."

**_The Imposter_**

Rory had agreed to her mother's plan and so they took Lorelai's Jeep to Hartford and as they stood at the door to her grandparent's home, Rory became suddenly aware that her mother had absolutely no idea about Finn. She went to say something but Lorelai had already pressed the doorbell and the door swung open in record timing.

When the door opened they were not greeted by the normal quiet, uninviting feel of a Friday night dinner, classical music played and the sound of chatter filled the air as the maid took their coats. As they entered the main house Emily approached them, leaving no time for Rory to explain anything.

"You are late," Emily scolded Lorelai, "Rory, where has that man of yours gotten to?"

"I'm not sure Grandma," Rory replied sweetly, "You'll have to have a look for him. Meanwhile I am really thirsty so I'm just going to …"

"I didn't know he was invited," Lorelai said perplexed.

"Of course Lorelai, he's around here somewhere with his parents. Actually, Rory … it has just occurred to me that the two of you never arrive together, why is that?"

"Oh …" Rory was put back, she watched her mother hoping that Lorelai would not give anything away. "He usually sees his parents beforehand so I just meet him here to make it easier."

"Oh of course, I should have thought of that, their family are rather close. We should have them over for dinner some time."

"Wow Mum, are you okay tonight? I always thought you didn't like him. Rory didn't even tell me he was invited, let alone his family." Lorelai was so pleased that her mother was finally acting pleasant toward Dean; she was even a little impressed and gave Rory a look to express this.

All Rory could think was how lucky she was that no one used names these days, personal pronouns were saving her charade.

"Honestly Lorelai, why say such a thing? And he always speaks so fondly of you too. Oh, here he is," Finn approached and kissed Emily on the cheek.

"Please mum," Rory said quickly to her mother out of the corner of her mouth, "Go with anything they say."

This sudden change of direction had Lorelai extremely confused to say the least, particularly by the arrival of the Australian man.

"Hello Lorelai," he greeted her, "So nice to see you again."

Lorelai looked at Rory who nodded encouragingly.

"Hello … Aussie. Nice to see you again."

"Really Lorelai, he has a name. Well Finn, I'll leave you to chat, I'll have to find your parents and invite them for dinner soon."

"Of course Mrs Gilmore, I'm sure they'd be delighted."

Emily left the group and Finn and Rory immediately stationed themselves across from the perplexed Lorelai to explain the situation.

"I'm sorry but who …?"

"The quick version … Finn and I pretend to be together to …"

"Stop our parents from setting us up with rich but incredibly dull opposite sex party guests." Finn cut her off, "Or same sex really … my parents were a bit confused by the black nail polish for a while."

Finn smirked at Rory who laughed along. Lorelai was less than impressed as she turned to Rory for clarification.

"Oh, you remember elbow patches? Well Finn and I help each other out to make sure that these society set ups don't happen. It's no big deal really."

"No big deal? You wound me love." Finn chimed in, "But really, it's going amazingly, haven't had to talk to another no brains potential spouse or life partner for weeks."

"Weeks?" Lorelai asked, "Aussie, do you mind if I talk to my daughter for a minute?"

"Not a problem Ms Gilmore, nice to meet you by the way." And with that Rory watched Finn meander off toward the bar.

"Two questions: one – how did we end up at a party tonight? Don't answer that, the answer is Emily Gilmore. And two … Finn? Who is he anyway? Are you cheating on Dean? I mean he is handsome, has an accent and I can't complain about his dress style but really …"

"Mum that was three questions." Rory noted the unimpressed look on her mother's face and continued "Calm down Mum, I am not cheating on Dean. Finn and I are friends; we're just helping each other out by being a _pretend_ couple … at society events only."

"Right, and does Dean know?"

"Well no, I guess I didn't think it was a big deal, but now that you found out like this I guess it is. I should tell him huh?"

"Yeah hun, I don't think it's going to go down too well though."

**_The Imposter_**

Finn watched Rory and her mother exchanging words as he waited for his drink at the bar. The older Gilmore seemed wary and he worried that he had made a bad impression. The bartender handed him his scotch and he took a sip still looking at the pair.

"Thanks Marty," he said to the bartender.

"Finn Morgan having women trouble?" Marty asked, Finn was always pleasant towards Marty, unlike most of the people their age that he had to serve at these events.

"Well no." Finn replied after thinking it over for a minute, "I guess not actually. I think I'm nuts … worrying that I made a bad impression on the mother of a girl I'm only pretending to date. That's messed up …"

Marty was about to respond when Logan approached the bar.

"Macallan. Neat." Logan ordered Marty and moved toward Finn, who had just turned away from watching Rory.

Logan looked around the crowd and settled his eyes on the two Gilmore girls.

"Finn, I need your help with Rory. I think she's interested in me? What do you think?"

"Logan, mate not everyone wants to sleep with you."

"You don't know that, and anyway, I think she's at least a little interested. You know her the best, put in a good word for me or something okay? Now that she has gotten rid of that boyfriend she's fair game right?"

Finn was extremely irritated by the way that his friend was speaking about Rory. Logan was right, Finn did know Rory the best out of all of them, but even then he didn't know her that well. He was sure, though, that Rory would not involve herself with someone like Logan, or even with someone like himself. She was not like the usual girls that they met at these parties, or at the bar.

"Mate … she's a person. If you want her you should probably talk about her like she is one."

**_The Imposter_**

Lorelai was in disbelief, she felt like she was growing distant from her daughter ever since she had starting attending these parties. She had known that the issue between Dean and Rory had stemmed from one of these parties, but now she wondered if Dean did, in fact, have reason to worry.

She had tried so hard to shelter Rory from society life and it annoyed her how well Rory fit in with these people. Not that she had anything against Rory making new friends; she just knew how deceptive these people could be. Growing up in this world had taught her that just because they are nice to you to your face and at these parties didn't mean that they actually cared about you or wouldn't say horrible things about you when you weren't around.

Lorelai approached her mother who was speaking with two ladies, all three of them looked like they shopped and had their hair done in exactly the same place.

"Hi ladies," said Lorelai, out of the corner of her mouth she said to her mother, "I can't believe you did this."

Emily smiled "Excuse us ladies, make sure you try the salmon puffs, they are wonderful." And with that she led Lorelai away from her friends.

"Mum, what happened to Friday night dinner, I mean you could have at least warned us."

"Really Lorelai, everything is so dramatic to you isn't it? Rory is obligated to attend these events and you were coming for dinner anyway, I thought you'd want to see your daughter, she has very little free time these days."

"Yes because you never let her out of any of these events, that's why. And don't get me started on that … Rory told me that you have been trying to set her up with rich boring men even while she's been dating Dean. Really mum, can't you let her decide on her own partner."

Emily smiled at people walking by as if she was having the most entertaining conversation of her life, "Well she's with Finn now and we have left her alone, so I don't know what you have to complain about now Lorelai. And aren't they a much better match, he goes to Yale you know, good family, handsome boy too. Look at them they are darling."

Her mother was fondly gazing toward the bar and Lorelai followed her line of sight to see Rory laughing at something Finn was saying.

"Look at him! He's had glasses of scotch attached to his hand all night."

"What's wrong with scotch? Your father drinks scotch."

"Probably not so much though." Lorelai said quietly.

"Now really, Finn has said such charming things about you, you should try and be more friendly towards him."

Lorelai bit her tongue, it took an effort to stop herself from telling her mother that she had only met Finn tonight but that would make Rory upset with her. Instead she walked towards Finn and Rory at the bar.

"Rory, are you ready to go? I have to get away from your grandmother."

"Your mother." Rory reminded her, and seeing Lorelai look unimpressed she continued, "I can't go yet Mum, I have to stay a little longer at events like this, I'll meet you back home later okay?"

"We only brought one car though, it's okay, I'll stay, just keep me away from her."

Finn jumped in to the conversation. "If you want to go Ms Gilmore, I'd be happy to drive Rory home. I've heard a lot about your little town anyway, could be interesting to see."

Lorelai eyed his glass of scotch warily.

"I have a driver," Finn clarified and Lorelai agreed, apologising to Rory and saying that she'd be at Luke's for dinner.

Lorelai felt horrible leaving her daughter there, but she didn't feel that she could keep up with the rouse, knowing so little about it.

**Next time on The Imposter: One-on-one Rory and Finn time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter The Fifth**

Rory was a little annoyed with her mother as she and Finn made their way back to Stars Hollow. Finn was happily singing along to the radio and improved Rory's mood by asking her question after question about her home town.

"And people think it's interesting that I come from Australia, seriously your little town beats any story that I may have."

Rory realised that she hadn't asked Finn one question about his life while she talked fondly about Stars Hollow.

"So what's Australia like anyway?" Rory asked.

"It's beautiful, it really is. I miss it a lot. When my parents first moved out here mid-high school I was shipped off to various boarding schools, which is how I met Logan and Colin. And I haven't been back to Australia since but it is amazing, you should definitely see it for yourself someday."

"I hope so." Rory admired the way that he spoke about his home country, just as she spoke about her home town, "What part are you from?"

"From Sydney love … well not really, I spent a lot of time in Sydney but our home was about an hour north of there. Gorgeous beaches, gorgeous women, but then I love it here too." He ended diplomatically. "But tell me more about Stars Hollow, tell me more about Kirk."

Rory went on to explain the multiple jobs that Kirk held within the town and his current street performance of mime.

By the time they reached Stars Hollow Finn was begging Rory to let him stay and for her to show him around.

"Please Rory, let me meet Kirk, come on, do you know how much it would mean to me to meet Kirk? Would you deprive me of my chance to meet him?"

"Oh yes, because it's a lifelong dream of yours not just the … what? Hour since you heard about him." Rory said sarcastically and Finn looked hurt. "Fine you can stay on the couch and I'll take you to meet Kirk."

"Yes! You won't regret this, I'll be so well mannered, I promise I won't fawn all over him or anything."

Rory was amused by Finn's intense fascination with the town. He was hanging his head out the window and pointing out everything and asking questions as soon as they passed the 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' sign. They pulled up at Rory's house and Finn instructed the driver to take the car back to his parent's house.

The lights were all out which, they figured, must have meant that Lorelai was still out at Luke's so Finn and Rory walked over to meet her. Finn had improved Rory's mood so much that she was, in a strange way, glad that Lorelai had left her to make the trip home with Finn.

"Oh my god," Finn stopped in his tracks. "That's Kirk isn't it?" He gestured towards a man in front of the gazebo resembling a very sad black and white clown.

"_The _Kirk!" Finn exclaimed taking off in the direction of the man, leaving Rory to follow behind.

Rory followed Finn watching as Finn far ahead was shaking Kirk's hand. As she got closer she heard Kirk telling Finn about the other fans of his work and discussing plans for his future street performance, a conversation that Finn was enthusiastically involved in.

"Breaking character again Kirk?" Rory asked when she approached them.

"I'm sorry?" The mime asked her, being broken away from the conversation with his 'fan'.

"You're a mime? Mime's don't speak Kirk." She stated.

Kirk gestured through mime that he could not hear her and then continued his performance as Rory pulled Finn in the direction of the diner.

"That was surreal," Finn said as they entered and joined Lorelai at a table in Luke's.

"My parent's party?" Lorelai asked.

"No Kirk …" And Finn recounted his entire experience with Lorelai as Rory's phone rang and she went outside to answer it.

"Hi Dean," she answered.

"Hey Rory, are you back from dinner yet? I'm just about to finish my shift, do you want to hang out?"

"Um …" Rory turned and looked at Finn sitting in the diner, she felt guilty, "I'm sorry, a friend of mine from Yale has come to Stars Hollow so I'm showing him around."

Dean sighed, "You know I never see you anymore Rory, are you at Luke's, I'll drop by."

Rory's face scrunched up in frustration, the last thing she needed right now was Dean to blow up over seeing Finn in the diner.

"No," she lied, immediately feeling horrible about it but she needed time to fill Dean in on the situation without it being thrown in his face like it was in her mother's, "We're at home but I promise I'll see you soon okay?"

There was silence at the other end of the phone. "I can see you standing outside of Luke's Rory. Is that your friend inside with your mum?"

Rory was caught out, she felt terrible. She never lied to Dean and the one time she did it immediately backfired on her. Not knowing what to do she worsened the situation.

"Are you spying on me?"

"Why are you there with him?"

"I can have male friends Dean! You have plenty of female friends."

"I don't even know you anymore Rory, bringing home guys you barely know when your boyfriend is here waiting for you. It's not that big of a town Rory."

Rory snapped her phone shut. She composed herself outside the diner, half feeling guilty about her lie, but also feeling angry that Dean had so little trust in her to have a male friend. He was really out of line to say such things. Rory thought about how long she had been in her relationship with Dean, things like this had never really been a problem before, she just had her mum and Lane and Dean. But now that she was branching out Dean didn't seem to like it very much, she liked it though. Rory liked meeting new people, people who challenged her like Colin and Logan, and Finn.

She re-entered the diner and sat down, a mug of coffee had been placed infront of her seat in her absence. She drank, calming herself but then her mother asked, "So was that Dean?"

"Dean?" Finn asked.

Rory sighed internally.

"Yes that was Dean, you remember my boyfriend Finn. He's at work." He informed Lorelai, not saying anything further on the matter.

Finn frowned; he had thought that she had broken up with Dean. He was quickly distracted from his thoughts when he saw two women enter the diner.

"Is that Babette and Miss Patty?" he asked gesturing his head toward the doorway conspiratorially.

Lorelai and Rory gave each other amused looks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing, I love to hear what you guys think, and just to know that you are reading is awesome!**

**Chapter The Sixth**

They had ended up having a late night as Finn sat with Miss Patty and Babette letting them tell him every part of town gossip that they knew. They told him all about Rory's childhood, about Luke and Lorelai and he asked question after question about Kirk which they were all too happy to answer. Finn wanted to ask Rory about Dean but didn't get a chance to that night. Instead he fell asleep on the couch in the lounge room of the Gilmore house and convinced himself that he didn't care and that he was happy for his friend.

**_The Imposter_**

Rory woke up early the next day; she stayed under the covers for a few minutes thinking about her conversation with Dean. Things hadn't been the same since they had made up and even though she still felt a loyalty to him, she didn't feel the same love for him that she once had. She thought about life after college and she wasn't sure that she could see Dean as a part of her life, but then she couldn't imagine having nothing to do with him at all. The only thing she could think was how can you tell the man that you have been with since you were sixteen that you just want to be friends?

It seemed like too much to her, that to say that she didn't want to be with him would mean that he would be out of her life completely. It was back and forth in her mind, that she did want to be with him because she didn't want to lose him and that it wasn't fair on either of them to stay together when she didn't feel that they were truly in love anymore.

She sighed, shaking aside the thoughts when she remembered that Finn would be asleep on the couch. Remembering the stories she had heard from the guys about how difficult it was to wake a sleeping Finn while the sun was out, she knew that it would be a chore trying to wake him. Which is why when Rory opened her door, she was shocked to see him already awake and sitting at their kitchen table engrossed in a copy of the Stars Hollow Gazette.

His phone buzzed and he read a message.

"Morning love," he noted Rory's presence and she worried that he may have thought that she was just standing there and watching him.

He continued talking before she had a chance to say anything "My mother discovered recently that texting me with details of events meant that I had less of a chance to complain or try to get out of anything. So apparently the Morgan's will be joining you for Friday night dinner this week."

"Mum will be happy, someone new and distracting to take the focus on the night."

"There is some kind of knitting festival coming up soon," Finn pondered as he looked over an article in the paper, "Can I come along love?"

"You knit Aussie?" Lorelai asked as she entered the room.

"Well … no. But you might be so kind as to teach me so that I can help save our beloved bridge."

Lorelai laughed and Finn got up to pour the ladies cups of coffee that he had prepared.

Lorelai looked at Rory and they sampled the coffee, unsure of Finn's coffee brewing skills.

"You are so lucky," Rory told him impressed.

"Why is that?"

"If you gave my mother a bad cup of coffee you'd probably be shunned and never get to see the rest of Stars Hollow."

Finn laughed, "Well since I haven't been run out of town yet perhaps you could get ready and give me the grand tour."

After waiting less than two minutes while Rory and Lorelai were finishing their cups of coffee, Finn felt that he could no longer be patient and decided to explore the town and meet them at Luke's for breakfast when they were ready.

** _The Imposter_**

Finn was nowhere to be seen when Rory and Lorelai arrived at Luke's. Lorelai sat at the counter and spoke with her husband, who had left early that morning. Rory laughed when Finn finally entered the diner.

"Where did you find an "I Heart SH" badge?"

"You didn't hear it from me," Finn leant in and gestured for her to move closer, "but Kirk is going to start selling them, he gave me a pre-release fan special."

"And where is mine?"

Finn smirked and pulled a second badge out of his pocket and pinned it to Rory's sweater.

"Kirk is going to release them to the public at the next town meeting, so remember to keep a low profile on it."

"But you just pinned it to my sweater?"

"And I wouldn't forget the lovely Lorelai." He handed Lorelai a third badge when she joined them at the table.

"Kirk?" Lorelai asked.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that." Finn told her confidentially.

"He came into the Inn with a business proposal for a stand featuring I Heart SA swag to sell to our 'tourist crowd'."

"And I thought I was being trusted with undisclosed information," Finn put on a hurt look, then his expression changed as he spotted something out the window. His look was disdainful and a little thoughtful as well and Rory turned around to see what he was looking at. Dean was passing the diner and Rory excused herself to meet up with him.

"Dean" she called to him when she stepped outside the diner.

Dean stopped and waited for her and together they walked towards the gazebo.

"So you've got time for me now? Not worried that you've left your _friend_ alone." He asked almost spitting out the word friend.

"Don't be like that Dean, he really is just a friend, I needed a lift home last night and he just decided to stay."

Dean loved Rory, he really tried to make her happy and he felt her slipping away.

"Look Rory, I am really sorry, I know he's just a friend, you wouldn't do something like that to me," Rory raised her eyebrows at that but Dean continued, "We probably both need to make more of an effort. I know I said no the last fifteen times you asked me to dinner at your grandparents but I have this Friday off work, so I thought that you know, if you were to ask me again I won't say no."

He was really trying, Rory was surprised but with Finn attending dinner and her grandparents thinking that Dean and she were finished there was no way that she could work around that and have him there as well.

"I would really love you to be there, but this week is a bad week."

"You've been asking me to go for weeks Ror … I won't have next week off, are you sure?"

"My grandparents are having Finn's family over for dinner this week." Rory explained.

"Well I could meet him, if he's just your 'friend' that shouldn't be a problem right?"

Rory felt that she was backed into a corner. She felt she had to be truthful but at the same time knew that telling Dean about the situation with Finn could not end well.

"You know how I was going to sort out the situation with my grandparents trying to set me up with everyone? Well Finn has been pretending that we were together so that everyone would leave me alone. We are just friends though."

Dean was quiet.

"We really are just friends," Rory continued, "I promise, it was just a way to keep my grandparents off my back."

Another moment of silence and Dean looked at her, "So it wasn't good enough for them that you already had a boyfriend, you had to pretend to have another one. I don't belong in your world any more do I Rory?"

"I don't …" Rory trailed off unsure of how to respond.

Dean walked away and left Rory sitting alone in the gazebo. She felt relieved in a strange way, but also sad. She sobbed and sat for a long time, she was looking at the floor of the gazebo and completely oblivious to the world when Finn approached.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it. This chapter was a particularly difficult one for me to write however, it came out nearly the way that I had imagined. **

**Chapter The Seventh**

Lorelai was starting to like Finn, he wasn't like the other society children that she saw at her mother's party the night she met him. He was fun and she fit in, in their strange little town. But as much as Lorelai had grown fond of him, she was also wary about what it meant for her relationship with Dean. So when Finn went to find Rory and she followed behind and saw him comforting her daughter in the gazebo, she knew that she was right.

She joined in comforting her daughter but felt slightly put off that Finn was doing such a good job that she seemed to be unneeded. When Finn suggested that they leave Stars Hollow and go back Lorelai hesitated for a second but she knew that the Inn was so busy and she felt better knowing that Rory had a friend in Finn and would at least not be returning to Yale alone. She would always make the time for her daughter if needed, but in this case she felt that Rory would do fine without her.

Finn drove Rory's car back to Yale, she cried silently, not saying anything the entire trip instead listening to Finn sing quietly along to the radio. She was so confused but, as her mother told her, it was normal to be sad. Dean was her first boyfriend and they had been together for years. She was upset and relieved at the same time and it was a peculiar feeling. It frustrated her that Dean always just walked away without any definitive end to the conversation.

The confusion wasn't Rory's alone, Finn had been convincing himself that he and Rory had a mutual need for each other and that was all. That he liked her as a friend and that was all. And that he hated Dean … and that was all. That was why he wanted Dean out of her life. But now that the felt like it was over between them, he wasn't so sure that that was all. He was elated, so happy that he had to try and keep a straight face to stop himself from smiling while Rory wept. He was annoyed that he was unsure whether it was the end, as he had thought that had happened already. And, most alarmingly to himself, he was jealous that Rory was upset about another man.

It was mid-afternoon when they reached Yale, Finn parked the car and Rory didn't move so he grabbed her bags and came around to the passenger door and opened it to the still motionless Rory. She stared straight ahead, becoming very conscious of Finn's closeness and was suddenly felt herself becoming embarrassed about his having comforted her all morning.

He stepped aside as she got out of the car and he walked her back to her place carrying her bags and chatting the entire way as she tried to act normal. He was surprised at her sudden change in mood, but not knowing her that well, he was satisfied that she seemed okay so when they reached her door he handed her, her car keys and hugged her to say goodbye, when he tried to pull away she wasn't ready to let go, to be alone.

She was a very independent person, but in this moment she needed comfort and distraction.

"Do you want to watch some movies with me?"

Finn considered refusing, he was so confused in her presence at the moment, but she looked so sad, "Sure doll."

"If you don't have time …"

"No I have time."

"You don't have to waste your weekend on me –"

"It's fine Rory." He paused, feeling strange calling her by her actual name, "Love, it's hardly a waste."

They couldn't come to an agreement on what food they would eat for the marathon so instead they opened the takeout menu drawer and ordered from five different places that offered delivery. In the end they had a table stacked with food, but enough choice to keep them both happy. They were engrossed in their second movie, lounging on the couch and laughing along to the movie when there was a knock at the door. They looked at each other lazily.

"Not it." Rory said immediately.

"It's your apartment love," Finn protested, but Rory just looked at him and he groaned as he pulled himself up from the couch,

Rory stood up and paused the movie.

"I wasn't serious; I don't expect you to be my slave Finn."

"I'll be your slave any day," he said suggestively.

There was a second knock at the door and both, standing looked at it and then looked at each other in apparent new bursts of energy they both bolted at the door, an unspoken competition to open it first.

Rory reached the door first and wrenched it open laughing as Finn grabbed her around the waist trying to stop her.

They were both laughing when Rory looked up to see Dean standing in the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked Finn angrily, tensing up when he saw him.

"What are _you_ doing here mate?"

"What is he doing here Rory?" Dean asked her, speaking as angrily as he did toward Finn and then pulling back his emotion when he realised how he was acting, "I thought I'd come and sort this out with you Rory, maybe we can talk …"

"I don't want to talk Dean," she said simply, bluntly.

"Of course you don't," he said glaring in the direction of Finn who was backing away from the two and into the apartment to try and give them some privacy.

Rory sighed, Dean's jealousy had, in her mind, defined the end of the relationship for her. His attitude irritated her. He did not own her, she could be friends with whomever she wanted.

"Goodbye Rory," Dean said softly and Rory felt that twinge of sadness again.

She said goodbye to Dean and they awkwardly hugged before Dean took one last look at Finn, sitting on the couch and trying to pretend he was not listening. Dean's expression was that of great distaste as he exited the apartment and left.

Rory finally had the closure that she needed from him.

**I felt like I really needed that closure of the relationship and to define the end of Dean's time in this story, so there you go.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: A number of you have pointed out my 'bizarre' spellings of things and I just have to tell you guys, I'm Australian! I'm sorry that's just the way we spell here …**

**On another note, thanks to everyone who has put favourites / alerts etc on this story, it means a lot to me that you like it enough to be bugged by your emails to read it! **

**Chapter The Eighth**

Finn began to attend to Rory more than he felt he should have. He felt himself subconsciously taking different routes to class that would cross her path and getting his morning coffee at times he knew she would be there … at the coffee cart nearer her place than his. He found himself having internal battles with himself about sending her text messages throughout the day. Finn tried to rationalise his actions though: "This is a quicker way to class", "They make better coffee here", "Friends text friends, it's normal".

Rory was also alarmed at how she waited for his texts and hoped to run into him. As is often the way with the universe, the past few months Rory was so busy that she had no time at all for Dean, and now that they had broken up she found herself with an abundance of free time. She spent a lot of this time reading, keeping her mind distracted and she was in the news room more than ever. Since the night that she had found out that Logan worked for the paper she noticed the sudden increase of his presence there. His desk had begun to acquire the same piles of littered paper common in the room.

When she saw him there, Logan was always bugging her to come to the pub with him and she happily obliged nearly every day after the break up, as she enjoyed the company of his friends. They had all taken a liking to her, all except Rosemary, who was still under the impression that she was dating Finn.

Stephanie got Rory alone on Thursday afternoon to go shopping; she started her questioning as they walked down the street, stopping at various boutiques.

"What's up with you and Finn?"

"Finn has been a great friend to me lately." Rory responded, not sure how to elaborate on their relationship.

"Finn's mother told my mother, who told me, that you guys were dating, but then of course I heard about the break up with Dean, so now I'm confused." Stephanie pried further.

"Oh, I'm not sure if it's better that you know or not … but I guess if it came up at a party you'd be good back-up" Rory considered as Stephanie's curiosity built until she couldn't take it anymore and demanded that she be filled in, "We just pretend to date so that our parents, well my grandparents, will stay off our backs and stop setting us up."

"Oh, that's not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be," Stephanie thought she was going to be let in on some scandalous gossip.

"So, what's up with you and Logan then?" Stephanie asked smirking.

"What's up with you and Colin?" Rory countered.

Stephanie frowned and, changing the subject back to Rory, she lamented that she hadn't thought of using a decoy boyfriend herself, "Then I wouldn't have to go on this date tomorrow with Michael."

"Why have we spent the past hour shopping for the perfect dress for your date if you don't even want to go?!"

"Have you seen Michael? That boy is sex walking, but sadly, as it was set up by my parents, I can never allow myself to like him. I can, however, look fabulous for this one night," she winked suggestively.

Stephanie had a habit of picking up conversations a long time after everyone else thought they were over and expecting the other party to know what she was talking about. Rory's quickness was perfectly suited to this and so they found it easy to hang out together. Rory was happy to have another girl in her life at Yale and Stephanie was glad to have a girl in the group who had actual depth of character. Juliet and Rosemary often hung around the group and while she found Juliet to be pleasant company, she was high maintenance at the best of times. Rosemary was too caught up in Finn and sometimes Logan, to give Stephanie any attention.

Stephanie was actually surprised that Logan hadn't told Rosemary that Rory and Finn were not even together. That was until she realised the increasing amount of times Rosemary was waking up in Logan's apartment.

"Finn definitely likes you though," Stephanie told Rory as if she were stating a fact.

Rory tried to ignore her but Stephanie would not let it pass and repeated the statement so that Rory could not ignore her twice.

"We're friends Steph –"

"So why are you going on a date with him tomorrow?"

"We are not going on a date Steph, we're going to dinner at my grandparents; his parents will be there, my mum will be there. I wouldn't exactly call that a date."

"Oh so you're meeting the parents," she smiled knowingly.

Rory rolled her eyes, "We all already know each other! I think you may have even been there when I met Finn's parents."

Stephanie refused to believe that there was not something going on with Rory and Finn, but they continued shopping without mentioning another word about it before meeting the guys for Chinese food.

**_The Imposter_**

Rory was rushing to leave for Friday night dinner, as she pulled open the door there was a knock on it.

Finn stood, arm raised, "Well you sure are eager, you barely even let me knock first."

"What are you doing here Finn?" Rory asked, surprised.

"I am wounded." Finn hung his head and shook it, Rory noted the sway of his dark brown hair, perfect and shiny. "Absolutely wounded. Have you forgotten that I was accompanying you to dinner at Richard and Emily's tonight?"

"Of course I hadn't forgotten, I'm just wondering why you're _here_." She pointed into her apartment.

"I'm picking you up, making sure that we are still on the same page of our relationship."

Rory looked at her watch and realised how late they were, "Whatever, are you driving or will I?"

She climbed into Finn's black SUV and they drove away. Finn pulled something from the glove box, unwrapped a cheeseburger that he had stashed there and took a bite. She stared at him in repulsion.

"Wha-?" He asked with a mouthful of burger.

"How long has that been there?"

Finn swallowed, then laughed, "Calm down, I bought it on my way here. I imagine dinner at your grandparents will be … fancy."

He scrunched up his nose at the word 'fancy'.

"Fancy isn't always bad," Rory countered but remembering some of the peculiar dinners her grandmother had fed her she added: "Although … I will admit it is a little hit and miss …"

She eyed the burger with jealousy and Finn offered her a bite.

"So now that you are single do you still even need me as decoy boyfriend?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Rory replied and Finn looked straight ahead, focusing on the road and attempting not to seem anxious about her answer. "I guess things would only get worse if I 'broke up' with you …"

"Let's stay together then. Mutual benefits, love!"

Rory smiled.

"Okay so we're still together," Finn continued "Good because I heard that my mother's ditzy friend and her even ditzier daughter are coming to visit … that would have been a set-up and a half. So now, where are we on the making out part of the agreement." Finn turned and winked at Rory.

"Holding hands, I'll give you that much." Rory laughed.

"So I'm making progress … good," Finn said seriously and Rory laughed louder as they pulled into her grandparents driveway.


End file.
